Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern) — the nation's leading wine and spirits distributor with active operations in 35 state markets — and its Odom-Southern Holding, LLC joint venture partner, The Odom Corporation (Odom), announce their agreement for Southern to acquire the balance of Odom's share in their JV for the wine and spirits business.

Commenting on the pending transaction, Wayne Chaplin, Southern's President & Chief Operating Officer, said, "In the wake of the passage of I-1183 privatizing spirits distribution and retailing in the State of Washington, we and our partners at Odom believe the timing is appropriate to transition the ownership and governance model of our wine and spirits JV to a sole, Southern ownership model in the Pacific Northwest. The Odom Corporation and Southern have had over three years a productive and successful partnership together in the Pacific Northwest, and we at Southern have the highest appreciation and respect for John Odom and his team. They are consummate professionals, and we are honored to have had the opportunity to work alongside such high-quality friends and colleagues, and look forward to a new chapter in our relationship."

Southern's Pacific Northwest headquarters will be located in Kirkland, Washington, with Odom remaining in its existing Bellevue, Washington headquarters where it will focus on its beer, soft drink and non-alcoholic beverage business in the Northwest and Alaska. Southern's primary distribution center in the State of Washington will be its state-of-the-art 350,000-square-foot facility in Puyallup, Washington which was acquired in July of last year and is presently in the final stages of readiness for a go live date of March 1.